Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials

Simon Grieve

Biography

British rider Simon Grieve (37) gained his first Badminton completion in 2018 with Drumbillo Metro – his entry this year also. He has previously completed Burghley six times and Pau twice.

Simon, who is based near Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire, was just five when he joined the Pony Club and in 1998 he competed at the Pony Club Championships at Sansaw. Aged 18 Simon left school and spent a year working in Debbie and Patrick Edmundson’s competition and dealing yard in Suffolk, riding and competing all types and sizes of horses. During this time he also competed the advanced event mare Ashdale Cover Girl with whom he was short-listed for the Young Rider European Championships.
Simon then moved to Leicestershire for a stint as a stable jockey for an Irish showjumper followed by two years as second rider to Sarah Cohen on the Preci-Spark Ltd event horses.
In 2006 Simon set up on his own as a freelance rider. His breakthrough came when he linked up with BE trainer Caroline Moore who worked with Simon on his three-phase riding and pointed some owners in his direction. In September 2012 he completed his first four-star with Cornacrew.

In May 2013 Simon was side-lined from the sport for three months after suffering from Paget-Schroetter disease, a rare form of Deep Vein Thrombosis. He recovered just in time to compete at Burghley.

Simon trains with Richard Davison, Caroline Moore and Di Lampard. Outside of horses he is a regular at the local pool and gym, plays the guitar and loves writing his blog for Horse & Hound. Out of season he is a keen skier.

Drumbilla Metro (aka Splash) is a 12-year-old Irish-bred (AES registered) gelding. He is by Metropole (a son of Libero H) out of Colleen’s Touch by Touchdown. He was originally acquired through Vere Phillips and formerly competed by Debbie Edmundson. He came to Simon at the beginning of 2014 and at the end of the year the pair was selected for and competed at the World Young Horse Championship CCI2*. In 2017 he completed his first four star at Burghley. He is described as ‘a small horse with a huge heart and jump’.